Commentary: Fuel for the fire
Dan Murphy | Updated: 10/17/2012
Drovers CattleNetwork
“The images are stark: men and teenagers drop-kicking wounded pigeons like footballs, stomping on them, slamming them against their heels until they explode.”
That’s the lead to a story about a “hunting” event that, judging from the video clips, amounted to organized target practice for a group of suburbanites dressed for an afternoon at the state fair, not actual hunting for wildlife in the woods or brush. And the story appeared in the mainstream Philadelphia Inquirer’s online news site, not in some animal rights blog post.
The Illinois-based group SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) claimed that its video footage from a Berks County (Pennsylvania) pigeon shoot that took place last month at the Wing Pointe hunting resort near Harrisburg represents evidence that these events—the topic of often heated debate in the Pennsylvania state legislature—violate state animal cruelty laws.
“This is the worst cruelty I’ve seen in 20 years of doing this,” Stuart Chaifetz, a SHARK spokesman, told the newspaper.
In a move that took us completely by surprise, Drovers CattleNetwork, a beef industry publication, published an editorial on October 17 that slammed the Wing Pointe canned hunt club for their pigeon shoots [Visit PA Shame for more information.]
The Illinois-based group SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) claimed that its video footage from a Berks County (Pennsylvania) pigeon shoot that took place last month at the Wing Pointe hunting resort near Harrisburg represents evidence that these events-the topic of often heated debate in the Pennsylvania state legislature-violate state animal cruelty laws.
And:
It's time for those involved in the meat business, and those who care about responsible animal stewardship as ranchers, feeders and producers to step up and draw a line: Hunting is a fine and worthy pastime participated in, for the most part, by hunters who actually care about the wildlife they help pay to sustain.
Canned-no, let's call them what they are: captive hunts-have no place in the larger realm of outdoor sporting events and recreation. Industry needs to say firmly that events such as the Wing Points pigeon shoot need to become a relic of the past.
When the beef industry calls you out for being cruel to animals, then you know just how bad it really is. Kudos to the Drovers CattleNetwork for calling it like they see it.
This is the same industry that aligns itself with the NRA, the biggest supporter of pigeon shoots, which makes this even more stunning.
This shows just how important SHARK's work is. Without our documentation, made possible by your support, no one would know the terror and brutality that is happening on the ground in Pennsylvania.
Ending pigeon shoots is going to be a long and difficult battle, but we are fighting it every day, in every way, and getting closer each time we expose pigeon shoots and their shooters to the world.
